Articles from Vol. 18, No. 31, August 26

We are now about nine months into the global war on terror--still closer to the beginning than the end. But while difficult work remains, it is, I think, useful to consider how much coalition forces have accomplished in reversing the tide of terrorism...

Dear Readers, The dog days of August that are upon us bring more than sweat to sticky Washington in summer. They even can bring some refreshing air, hot though it may be, as members of Congress struggle with the quintessential question many of...

Al-Qaeda terrorist cells hiding in Spain used stolen credit cards to make numerous purchases, being careful to keep their spending below levels at which identification would be needed, according to the FBI. Extensive use of false passports and travel...

Chances are, at this very moment, a family is arriving at some U.S. shoreline ready to spend a week relaxing at the beach. But before mom, dad and the kids can get their feet warm in the sand, a sign confronts them: "Beach closed. No swimming allowed."...

Deaf Way II was a remarkable phenomenon. It was a week-long educational conference and arts festival held at the Washington Convention Center and attended by 10,000 deaf and hard-of-hearing persons from more than 100 countries. But it was more...

It's hard to turn on the television or read the newspaper without finding some rehashed "revelation" from more than a decade ago about President George W. Bush at Harken Energy or the so-called accounting scandal at Halliburton Corp. The liberal...

Judging by the Conference Board's dismal consumer-confidence index for July, Americans are feeling distinctly insecure about their immediate financial prospects--as well they might. Bears are two for a penny nowadays and the business pages are full...

"What are mere mortals that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?" Sound familiar? Probably not. And yet, it's one of the most famous questions ever written. St. Paul's letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 2:6), in a more recognizable...

Goodness, but what would Gloria Steinem say? For the fifth year in a row the Baltic nation of Estonia carried off the top title in the world wife-carrying competition. The team from the former Soviet-occupied republic won despite new rules, introduced...

An 18-year-old and her mother are suing Ann Arbor, Mich., public schools for censoring the teenager's religious beliefs on homosexuality. During Pioneer High School's "2002 Diversity Week" in March, administrators deleted references to homosexuality...

The chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) says he believes campaign contributions are a constitutionally protected form of free speech, even as his agency prepares to defend a new ban on large contributions in the courts. FEC Chairman...

If you were to take to heart every single FBI warning in the aftermath of Sept. 11 you might come to the conclusion that you are not safe anywhere. That kayak dealership might be renting you a boat in which dynamite is hidden. That cute teddy bear...

When Pope John Paul II came to Toronto for the World Youth Day Congress, he was arriving on a continent that still is significantly religious and leaving a continent that seems to have abandoned religion for agnosticism and material affluence. ...

Hearken to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has put American justice on hold by refusing to confirm district-and appellate-court nominees to the federal bench unless they sit in the far-left cabbage patch....

Walking through the doors of the International Spy Museum (www.spymuseum.org) in Washington returns you to some of the most tense periods in recent history. The Nazis held unbreakable codes, the Soviet Union was still the "Evil Empire" and Berlin...

Here's a nice piece of property: 42 acres with an old 11-room stone house, a summer house and a four-car garage, all tucked away in the picturesque highlands near Binghamton, N.Y. Oh, and there's a barbecue pit. A fairly famous one, actually. ...

Just as President George W. Bush insists that reforming the federal civil-service system is vital to creating an effective Department of Homeland Security, neophyte NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe is prescribing the same tonic for what ails the...

A century of mismanagement, malfeasance and mistrust won't be reversed or rectified quickly or cheaply, according to a new report from the Department of the Interior (DOI) indicating that making sense of badly jumbled Indian trust accounts dating...

As Congress breaks for its August recess and campaign 2002 revs up for the fall, antiterrorism experts are apoplectic at the thought of the Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives in November--not for partisan reasons, but for reasons...

There is mounting evidence the United States soon will invade Iraq. But will we, as many critics claim, go it alone? Not likely, as the pending invasion has become a brass ring for nations in the region hoping to wrest their countries from economic...

Q: Are taxpayer subsidies to foreign students in the U.S. serving the national interest? YES: Foreign students are good for the U.S. economy and good for our democracy. The debate about international students has reached a low point with the...

It took nearly a century for the body of John Paul Jones, Revolutionary War hero and father of the U.S. Navy, to be returned to his adopted country after his death in Paris in 1792. On July 19, 1905, his remains were entombed at the U.S. Naval Academy...

It is not surprising to hear the founder and president of Tim LaHaye Ministries say, "The thing that makes America great is that it was founded on more biblical principles than any nation in the world." Nor is it surprising that LaHaye, who speaks...

The way most of us have noticed the ratcheting up of homeland security probably is through travel inconveniences or headlines about the latest FBI raid. We may get a look at some of the action up close and personal in the near future though, as...

In a moving speech commemorating the 60th anniversary of the infamous roundup of French Jews in 1942, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin spoke hard truths to his fellow countrymen. For two generations, the French have cloaked themselves...